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New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

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Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#61

Post by mlrtime »

portmanteaufu wrote: post #42
brenschluss wrote: post #37

As someone who is on NYC Mesh - it’s amazing. I can’t explain the feeling you can get of pointing an antenna at a distant building and getting a ping. So great!

How was your onboarding experience? I'd love to join the mesh, but I'm pretty far from the supernodes. If you live in an apartment, did you have any issues running the wires into the building?

I think this is the big hurdle or most people in Manhattan:

To get connected to NYC Mesh, you’ll need a line of sight from your rooftop or balcony to one of our supernodes or hubs. Check our map to see if you're in the network coverage zone. And if you’re not yet in range, keep checking back as our network is always expanding, or volunteer to help us grow towards your neighborhood.

So this means that if you are in a condo you can't use it?

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#62

Post by grahamburger »

timerol wrote: post #36
CodexArcanum wrote: post #8

I've been very intrigued by their efforts for some time now. Last time I read about NYC Mesh, it sent me down a rabbit hole of research into mesh networks and what it takes to found an ISP. I'd love to replicate their efforts in NOLA, but the legal and technical hurdles are tricky! When I had looked into it, these resources had been helpful for research: Wireless Networking in the Developing world -- http://wndw.net/…

I also found https://startyourownisp.com/ to be a good resource. I have no interest in founding an ISP, but it was really cool to read and think about

Hey that's my site! Thanks for sharing!

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#63

Post by hanniabu »

untog wrote: post #59
hanniabu wrote: post #48

This is a great use case for crypto. You can earn by supporting the network and spend it to use the network. It helps the incentive layer. Those supporting the network can pay for support personnel as they grow, or there can be a network tax that goes towards this. You can also decentralize the support personnel by rewarding people that successfully answer tickets and offer a premium for when questions are answered w…

Why is crypto better suited to any of this than... money?

The tokens can be used for authentication. With money you'd need accounts, auth for those accounts, somebody needs to manage those accounts, etc

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#64

Post by theseatoms »

untog wrote: post #59
hanniabu wrote: post #48

This is a great use case for crypto. You can earn by supporting the network and spend it to use the network. It helps the incentive layer. Those supporting the network can pay for support personnel as they grow, or there can be a network tax that goes towards this. You can also decentralize the support personnel by rewarding people that successfully answer tickets and offer a premium for when questions are answered w…

Why is crypto better suited to any of this than... money?

Payments can be reduced to packets, for one.

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#65

Post by Wowfunhappy »

> Spectrum said it also offers a slower $15-a-month connection to eligible low-income families and seniors.

For what it's worth, the plan is called "Every Day Low Price Internet", and there's no formal eligibility requirements. Spectrum doesn't advertise the plan, but you can see it listed at: https://www.spectrum.com/browse/content/ratecard.html

For $15 per month, I get 3 mb down / 1 mb up. The price never changes, there's no hidden fee, no bundle crap etc.

Even as a heavy internet user, I'm very satisfied. It's plenty fast enough for general web browsing, and I let larger downloads run overnight. I can't stream videos above 720p, but I can just wait for them to download in the background with youtube-dl. I also have a script that autodownloads new Youtube videos while I sleep.

Fios is available in my apartment, but for $50 more per month, it's not worth it. If I wasn't in a rental apartment I would seriously consider NYC Mesh, but I'm not. (I'd also be a bit concerned about latency.)

---

Edit: Actually, looking at the rate card again, the article was likely referring to "Spectrum Internet Assist", which is still $15 a month but offers 30 down / 4 up—but with eligibility requirements: https://www.spectrum.com/browse/content/spectrum-internet-as...

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#66

Post by woah »

Shameless plug: My company Althea (https://althea.net) is making router firmware that makes it easy to people to set up incentivized mesh networks in their communities. It allows routers to pay each other for bandwidth which means that everyone hosting a node earns money for the packets they forward.

We have 2 networks live, one in rural Oregon and one in Medellin, Colombia. Also, 4 more networks people are currently pre-registering subscribers for in their communities, for example https://althea.net/hilltop.

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#68

Post by untog »

hanniabu wrote: post #63
untog wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is crypto better suited to any of this than... money?

The tokens can be used for authentication. With money you'd need accounts, auth for those accounts, somebody needs to manage those accounts, etc

> With money you'd need accounts, auth for those accounts, somebody needs to manage those accounts, etc

Like... a bank? I mean, you're talking as if the infrastructure for paying someone money in return for providing you with a good or service is a wild west territory. It's, er, pretty well established.

Re: New York City Neighbors Build Cheaper Way to Connect to Web

#70

Post by boramalper »

d2mw wrote: post #34

I'm curious about how these things are expected to scale.. 1000 subscribers, dedicated support person 5000, ??? 10000, ??? At some point these community efforts must grow back into a company again, right? And the cycle repeats

> At some point these community efforts must grow back into a company again, right?

(a) Not necessarily, it might turn into a non-profit organisation, a cooperative, or something “akin”.

(b) Nothing wrong with companies either. Although I (and many others) would prefer option (a), a fairer company that respects its customers’ needs and rights is very welcome!

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